


Sara Lance Makes her Boyfriend Pinky Swear and Other Captain Canary Headcanons

by srmiller



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Captain Canary, Established Realtionship, F/M, Fluff, ongoing series, probably a little bit of everything by the time i'm done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 22:22:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6772630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/srmiller/pseuds/srmiller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ongoing series of connected one-shots based on my Captain Canary headcanons which include pinky swears, nightmares, meeting the family, and eventually nicknames, saving each other, and probably smut</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pinky Swear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara’s back in Star City and isn’t at all surprised when the local museum is robbed of a million dollar painting. What’s more, she’s 100% sure she knows who it was and she’s going to kick his ass.

Sara leaned against the computer desk in the bunker as Felicity and Oliver argued about what to do about the latest villain who threatened Star City and she was about to put her own two cents in when the computer behind Felicity beeped with an alarm.

Felicity spun her chair around and glanced at the screen, her eyes scanning the words before announcing to the room, “Security at the Star City Museum as reported a robbery.”

“Let the police deal with it,” Oliver suggested with a wave of his hand. “We have bigger things on our plate right now.”

Felicity nodded but before she could exit out of the screen Sara laid a hand on her arm. She had an inkling about this particular break in. “Can you pull up the security footage?”

“Sara-”

“Humor me, Ollie.”

Without missing a beat Felicity pulled up the cameras from within the museum and Sara glanced over the room. At first it didn’t looking like anything was out of place but out of the corner of her eye she saw a puddle of water beneath a security panel.

“Damn it.”

“What?” Felicity asked, leaning in to get a closer look at the screen. “Why damn it?”

Sara grabbed her jacket from the desk and began pulling it on as she headed towards the ramp. “Sorry guys, I got to go.”

“Go where?”

“To kick my boyfriend’s ass.”

As she headed towards the elevator she heard Oliver ask Felicity, “Boyfriend?”

“Leonard Snart,” Felicity informed him, which she only knew that because Sara had told her earlier that morning when she’d shown up in Star City to help the team.

“Snart? You mean the guy Barry put in jail after he killed his father?”

“To protect his sister, but yeah, that’s the one.”

Sara didn’t hear what Ollie’s response to that was because the elevator doors closed shut and fifteen minutes later she was parking her motorcycle in the underground lot of a hotel and riding the elevator to the top floor.

When she let herself into the room she saw Snart drinking from a highball glass while a million dollar painting leaned up against the wall on the far side of the room.

“What the hell?”

“Honey,” he drawled. “You’re home.”

Home was whatever hotel they were holed up in at any particular time. 

Since returning to 2016 they’d visited her Mom and his sister in Central City (the league of assassin had nothing on over-protective sister Lisa Snart), gone to Hub City to visit the Hawks and generally wandered across the map looking for anything which could keep their interest.

After flying around in a time machine, visiting different countries and eras, she and Snart had found it difficult to be in any one place for more than a few weeks.

But they’d agreed when Oliver called her for help he would lend a hand as well and surprise, surprise her idea of helping was not grand theft.

She walked over to the painting and resisted the urge to kick it, “Seriously?”

“What? I had a little time on my hands and an interested buyer.”

“You’re supposed to be working with the team,” she reminded him. “Not stealing.”

He swung his legs off the bed and sauntered over to her, and really, he was the only person she had ever met who sauntered anywhere and it was bizarrely appealing.

“And I will,” he assured her. “But I’d rather people not find out I’m helping the good guys.”

Sara put her hands on her hips, “You do remember a few months ago you _saved the world_?”

“I do,” he assured her and gave her a friendly peck on the lips. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t spread that around, I have a reputation to maintain after all.”

“This is about your reputation?” she asked and he smiled at her growl of frustration.

“If people find out I’m in town and not stealing things they’ll start talking.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I’m aware.”

“You’re also aware my dad is still police chief?”

“I am, which is why I left plenty of evidence which will lead to my old friend Alexa so he can arrest her and be the hero. Though, sadly the painting will have already been sold by the time they find her and unable to be recovered.”

She resisted the urge to be wooed by the fact he’d taken her dad into consideration. “The crime isn’t solved if the wrong person is arrested.”

“A bird in the hand,” he shrugged as if the semantics didn’t bother him, which they probably didn’t. “Besides, it’s not like she hasn’t stolen things worthy of her being put in jail before. Consider it karma.”

Sara sighed, there wasn’t much point in arguing with him, the painting had been stolen and there was no putting it back without risk of getting caught.

“Fine, but no more stealing while we’re in town. I have enough to deal with without worrying about my boyfriend getting arrested and sent back to jail.”

“Promise.”

Sara studied him for a moment and while it had always been easy to read people in the past she’d never been able to be 100% certain what he was thinking at any time. She was self-aware enough to know it was one of the reasons she was drawn to him.

“Pinky swear.”

He laughed at her hand between them, pinky finger extended towards him. “Excuse me? A twice-former League of Assassins member is asking me to pinky swear I won’t steal anything?”

“Yes, and I want to see your other hand to make sure you’re not crossing your fingers.”

Snart sighed but she could tell he was fighting back a smile as she held up one hand and hooked his pinky around hers with the other.

“I pinky swear I won’t steal anything else while we’re here.”

“And if you do, I’m going to kick your ass.”

He did smile then, using his pinky to tug her forward for a kiss. “No time for dirty talk, I have to go meet my buyer.”

“Is Mick going with you?”

“Not worried about me are you?” he asked as he draped the painting with a blanket and she briefly wondered, but didn’t actually want to know, how he was going to get the painting out of the hotel without anyone asking questions.

“Maybe a little,” she admitted, crossing her arms.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” He headed for the door as she calculated how quickly she could get into her Canary outfit so she could follow him to his meet.

“Order some food, will yeah? This shouldn’t take long and crime is exhausting business.”

He knew her too well, if she ordered something to eat she’d have to be here when it arrived and there was no way she could follow him and sign for the food.

“Fine.”

“Pinky swear?”

“Pinky swear,” she promised before she watched him head out the door and true to her word she picked up the room service menu and pretended not to worry about what kind of trouble Snart could get into in one night.


	2. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leonard wakes up to an empty bed more often than not, but a sixth sense he doesn't question tells him Sara's not just out for a normal midnight run and leaves the comfort of their bed to look for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was going to write fluff to counteract Len's "death" on Legends but this happened instead

Leonard woke up to an empty bed which wasn’t all that surprising because Sara slept less than anyone he had ever met. At first he’d thought it was just readjusting to having an actual day and night to contend with, after weeks of living on the Waverider they’d simply slept when they were tired and woke up when there was an emergency. Now there was sunlight and noise and weather and it had taken him days to get used to it again.

Sara had told him after the fourth night straight he’d found her watching TV at one in the morning the League had trained their assassins to live off as little sleep as possible. For a while he’d attempted to stay up with her but after only two nights of almost no sleep it was better for their relationship for him to not be cranky every minute of the day.

This was different though, he had a bad feeling which made him restless and eventually he gave into instinct and gotten dressed before heading to the Green Arrow’s bunker.

He could hardly believe it when Sara had insisted he be given access, citing if some guy named Merlyn could come and go as he pleased so could her partner. So, while they were in Star City he could come and go as he pleased but he suspected there was some kind of alarm which alerted the blonde in the glasses he had stopped by.

Hopefully, if his guess was right, they’d notice Sara was already there and not bother to come by and make sure he wasn’t stealing anything.

When the elevator doors slid open he immediately heard the low grunts and heavy thuds which he associated with Sara kicking something’s ass.

Wandering through the bunker he found her beating up some piece of wood with a bunch of other pieces of wood sticking out from it.

It wasn’t something that could fight back, but Sara was acting as if it had tried to kill her.

“Hey there.”

There was a slight pause in her work out before she resumed the hitting and the punching so he leaned against a concrete beam and sent Mick the pictures he’d taken earlier of the lair and added captions like “Why do they need special cases for their outfits? Have they not heard of drawers?” and “Why exactly does every superhero think three computer screen are necessary?" It kept him busy while Sara huffed and puffed and Mick would appreciate the inside look of the Green Arrow's lair and over the top it was.

“What are you doing here?”

“Bed was cold,” he told her as he pushed away from the column and strode toward her, taking one of her hands and unraveling the tape around her knuckles.

“You like the cold,” she pointed out.

“Not when it means you’re not there with me.” Her skin was red beneath the tape and he brushed his thumb over the inflamed skin, “You okay?”

She took her hand back and started to unravel the tape on her other hand, shrugging like the fact she’d nearly beat her hand bloody was no big deal. “Nightmare.”

He'd figured. “Which one?”

Sara tossed the used tape in a trash can and leaned against a column, “Doesn’t matter.”

He walked towards her but didn’t crowd her, “Sure it does.”

Over the course of the weeks since they’d become a ‘we’ they’d both opened up to each other bit by bit and he knew there were more than a few monsters haunting her in her sleep. Each of them warranted nightmares terrifying enough it would keep most people from going back to sleep for the rest of their lives.

Sara just ran herself to exhaustion, avoiding sleep until it was all but inevitable.

“If it was the Gambit then it means you’ll avoid taking a shower for a couple of days, you certainly won’t go near the beach." He tilted his head as he went through a mental list in his head. "If it was the Amazo, or Ivo, then I know for the next couple of days not to touch you without making sure you see me first.”

He could go on but he figured she got his point. It had been a process of trial and error, learning how to dance with her demons, but he was quick on his feet and it was worth it.

“Tell me, Sara.”

She was silent for a full minute but he wasn’t about to push her, if she wanted to talk she’d talk, otherwise standing in a damp room looking at her was hardly a wasted morning.

“It was the Oculus,” she finally admitted, glancing up from staring at the floor to look at him. “It was you.”

_Shit._

He had his own nightmares about that night, standing in front of the pulsing blue light while Sara walked away with a stumbling and disoriented Mick. He could still remember that first kiss, a goodbye as sweet and bitter as anything he’d ever tasted, and then the nothing which had followed.

It was the nothing which terrified him, which caused him to wake up in the night sweating and breathing like he wouldn’t get another chance. The difference between him and Sara was when he woke up from those horror stories he reached out instead of pulling away.

He called Mick to do a job, woke up his sister in the middle of the night just to hear her voice, but more often not he reached across the bed for Sara and rode out the fear with the touch of her skin and the beat of his own heart against his ribs.

“I didn’t know that was on your list.”

“It’s not one of my favorite moments,” she shrugged. “Leaving you there to die by yourself.”

“As opposed to the alternative of dying with me? I appreciate the thought, Sara, but it would have been a pointless death.”

“There could have been another way,” she argued, finally meeting his gaze head on. “Found something to brace the lever, or-“

He stepped towards her slowly, cutting off her words by framing her face with his hands. She closed her eyes and leaned into touch and wasn't is something to have a warrior like her feel safe with the likes of him.

“There wasn’t time, and everything worked out in the end, didn’t it? Just a touch of amnesia before the memories came back.”

Sara reached up, her small fingers encircling his wrist. “I lost you.”

“I lost you too,” he reminded her. “More times than I care to count, I lost you before I even got the chance to meet you.”

Standing up she slid into his arms, wrapping her own around his middle and resting her head on his chest. Listening to his heart beat, he thought, and understood the need. "I wish you hadn't done it."

"I had to."

"For Mick," she sighed.

"For Mick," he confirmed.

Leonard had known the instant Rip told them that Mick had volunteered to stay behind what was going on, he knew Mick well enough to know he was willing to die to get his revenge and Leonard couldn't let that happen. It had been his fault after all that Mick had been forced to suffer the torture of the Time Masters, spending lifetimes being remade into something with no control and no hope. So wasn't it only fair, only right, he stand in Mick's place to give his friend a chance to live the life he deserved.

“I don’t want you to be a hero if it means I’m going to lose you.”

He laughed, knowing she didn’t mean it, but he shared the sentiment. “Right back at you.”

They stood in the middle of the bunker, wrapped in each other and the quiet until Sara was steady enough to pull back. She wrapped her fingers around the lapel of his jacket, “Thank you for coming to find me.”

“Anytime,” he promised. “You ready to head back, or does the stick figure want to go another round?”

“No,” she shook her head and slid her hand into his. “I’m done fighting.”

“Good, because I’ve got a new deck of cards and a strategy to beat you at Gin.”

She smiled and pressed her shoulder against his as they headed towards the elevator, “Good luck with that.”

Leonard thought back to the last 24 hours. He'd gotten away with a million-dollar heist and was going home with a pretty girl, all things considered, his luck was pretty damn good.


	3. Meet the Family Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara introduces her new boyfriend to Captain Lance and it goes about how you'd expect

Sara figured she’d put off the conversation long enough, so after a late breakfast with Felicity she laced up her big girl boots and walked over to Star City Police Department and made her way to her father’s office door.

He looked busy, hanging up the phone and typing at his computer with the one finger approach which drove Felicity more than a little crazy when she’d discovered the very important Captain Lance who was dating her mother didn’t know what the “home keys” were.

Personally, Sara had always found the habit a little endearing, and since he was looking busy she almost managed to talk herself out of interrupting but given how many people knew about her and Leonard being in town together it was only a matter of time before he found out from someone else.

Before she could change her mind, she knocked on the door and returned her father’s smile when he waved her in.

“Hey, baby,” he greeted with a hug. “What brings you by? I didn’t even know you were in town.”

“We just got here recently, Ollie called for help.”

His detective instincts caused his eyes to sharpen, “We?”

“Yeah, there’s something I need to tell you.” Taking a deep breath, she started her prepared speech but she only got about three quarters of the way through before Quentin put up his hand to stop her. “You’re saying your new boyfriend is a murderer?”

“I should probably remind you I’m a murderer.” She paused and winced a little, “And so is Ollie and so is Nyssa.”

“So you’re saying you have a type.”

He sounded so disgruntled about it Sara couldn’t help but smile. “I’m saying people change.”

“I can’t say I was ever happy to see you with Nyssa but I understood it, and knowing more about Oliver’s decisions after the boat capsized, and yours, I get he didn’t have much choice in what he did. What about this Snart character? Did he have a choice?”

“Everybody’s got a choice, Captain.”

Sara looked over her shoulder to see the man in question walking into her father’s office. “What are you doing, Leonard? Are you stupid?”

“It’s been debated.”

“You’re wanted for escaping prison and murder,” she hissed. “Do you honestly think walking into a police station is a smart idea?”

“Hide where they don’t expect to find you,” he informed her. When he passed by her he touched her shoulder. “Nice to meet you, Captain Lance.”

Sara watched her father study Leonard’s extended hand suspiciously before he finally shook it. “Mr. Snart.”

“Len, please.”

“Who exactly did you murder?”

“Dad!”

“My father.”

“Leonard!”

“Sara,” Quentin asked, overly polite, as he leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms. “Do you think you can give me and _Len_ a second?”

She crossed her arms and settled against the windowsill, unconsciously mimicking her father’s stance the way she had since she was a child. “Absolutely not.”

Thankfully, both men understood her well enough they didn’t bother trying to convince her otherwise but her dad did sigh heavily before turning to look at Leonard. “You killed your father?”

Leonard shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets as if he had all the time in the world and no qualms about discussing murder in a police station with a police captain.

“When he put a bomb in my baby sister’s neck it seemed the thing to do.”

“What?” he glanced at Sara as if to confirm and she nodded once.

“He wanted to do a job,” Leonard explained and Sara saw the anger was still there under the cover of nonchalance. “When I refused, he put a nifty little bomb under my sister’s skin to get me to cooperate. I was lucky, I had someone willing to be my friend when I didn’t deserve it.”

When her father looked at her Sara held her hands up in a gesture of innocence. “Wasn’t me.”

“The Flash,” Leonard clarified. “He got the bomb out of her, saved her life, but when they told me all I could think was ‘he’s going to do it again.’ I knew if he did it once there would be nothing to stop him from doing it again. Maybe it wasn’t the most heroic decision but it’s the one which allows me to sleep at night.”

Sara pushed off the wall and linked her fingers with Leonard’s. “I’d have done the same thing Dad, if someone had threatened Laurel. You do what you have to for family.”

Quentin looked back between his daughter and the man standing next to her and saw there was a bond there he couldn’t quite explain. “You done killing?”

“I can’t promise what I’d do in every situation,” Leonard answered but it didn’t sound like an evasion to Sara, it sounded like the truth. “Your daughter and I don’t exactly lead quiet lives but I can promise it’s not my first choice.”

“It’s the same thing with Ollie,” Sara reminded her father. “And with me.”

“What about the stealing?”

“Sara says I’m not allowed to anymore,” and he sounded so disgruntled about it Sara laughed and wrapped her arms around his middle, his own coming up to rest on her shoulders.

“Look Captain, I can’t promise to be good but I can promise to be good for her.”

“Awww.”

He didn’t even look at her when he told her to shut up, but since there was no heat in it Sara continued to smile.

“You’re still wanted by the Central City police?” Quentin asked

“And a few more exotic places,” Leonard admitted. “But most of them don’t have a name to go on.”

“And you’re helping Sara and the team?”

“Helping the good guys is a hard habit to break,” he admitted. “But it sounds like you could guys can use all the help you can get.”

“All we’re asking is that, while we’re here, you don’t arrest him.”

Sara met her father’s eyes when he looked at her. “I can’t tell my officers not to arrest a wanted a fugitive. Especially if he walks into a precinct armed.”

“He’s not-“ she started to defend, but when she took a half step back to look up at him he wouldn’t meet her eyes, “Leonard, tell me you’re not armed.”

“It’s just a small gun,” he assured.

She punched his shoulder, hard.

“Ow.”

“You really are an idiot,” she muttered. “Dad, will you promise not to arrest my partner?”

“Fine, as long as he promises not to steal or kill anyone while he’s here.”

“Dad, we’re going up against a brutal bad guy here, we can’t hold any punches.”

“I’ll make sure it’s my last resort,” Leonard promised. “But I can’t promise I won’t do what I have to do.”

Sara held her breath while she waited for her dad to agree. She didn’t think he would actually say no, but she found she wanted him to be okay with this, with her and Leonard and the life they’d settled on.

“I’ll take it,” he finally groused. “Where are you guys staying?”

She rattled off a name of the local hotel and her dad nodded even though she knew he was wanting to say something about them sharing a room and a bed.

Once an overprotective father, always an overprotective father.

“You know,” Leonard announced as they made their way out of the precinct through a back exit. “That didn’t go so bad.”

Sara had to concede his point. “Well, he didn’t shoot you so that’s something.”

Leonard grinned at the prospect. “You were expecting him to shoot me?”

“Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t pull his gun out when you walked in.”

He snorted as they walked out into the sunlight, and immediately he pulled down his shades to cover his eyes. “Guess we got lucky then, let’s just hope my sister is as open minded when you meet her. She’s very protective and has a little something Cisco made for her which makes your father’s pistol look like a toy.”

Sara stopped walking. “Your sister is armed?”

“Like Maidus.”

“Yeah, I don’t know what that means.”

“Hand of Maidus? Lisa’s got a gun which turns everything to gold.”

“You’re joking.”

He put his arm over her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I never joke about my sister and her temper. But don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

Sara scoffed out a laugh as they headed in the general direction of food. “My hero.”

“And don’t you forget it.”


	4. Captain Canary Meets Up With Team Flash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sara and Leonard have some unfinished business with a meta headed to Central City but when they meet up with Team Flash Barry can't help but be baffled and amazed by the hero and the villain's relationship. Then Sara's put in danger and Barry understands there's nothing Snart won't do to save her

Leonard matched his stride to Sara’s as they walked through the silver-white hallways. While she was quick it didn’t seem fair to make her keep up with his much longer steps and waste all that energy, though if she was going to keep arguing with him he was going to change his mind quick.

“It’s not fair.”

“Yeah, I don’t care.”

She was dressed in her Canary outfit, hair falling down around her and he once asked her why she never pulled it back when she fought. It seemed reckless to give the enemy something to hold onto but she’d smiled, a little dangerous, and informed him cheerily if someone was close enough to grab her hair, they were close enough for her to kill them.

And damn him, but that smile did him in every time.

“So, why do you get to wear your getup, but I don’t get to wear mine?”

“My outfit is cool,” she said as if she was reminding him. “Your jacket is dumb.”

He stopped walking and waited till she turned to face him. “It’s my signature.”

Sara tiled her head and crossed her arms as she studied him, goggles around his neck, cold gun at his waist. “I thought your gun was your signature, Captain Cold.”

There was sarcasm in her voice as she used his moniker but he ignored it. “The gun is my MO, the coat is my signature.”

Her brow furrowed in a way he found stupidly adorable but was smart enough not to comment. “Really?”

He shrugged and continued walking. “I don’t know, I’m not a cop. Ask your father.”

She laughed as she followed him, slipping her hand into his as they walked down the corridors. He was beginning to wonder if he’d taken a wrong turn down the wrong hallway because he didn’t remember his destination being quite this far the last time he was here.

“So let me get this straight, I can’t steal in Star City.”

“Nope.”

“I can’t steal in Central City.”

“Nope.”

“And now I can’t wear my jacket.”

She rolled her eyes and tugged on the zipper of his collarless leather jacket. “You can wear this jacket, but the fur lined hoodie? No.”

He made a sound which sounded more aggravated than anything else. “So what exactly am I getting out of this relationship besides a list of don’ts?”

“Sex with me.”

Okay, she had a point.

“Fine, the jacket goes.”

“I thought you’d see it my way.”

Leonard smiled and shook his head at her obvious glee of winning, but to be honest he was hardly going to hold out long against her. He mostly just enjoyed the arguing, she was a hard person to affect so he took personal pride in aggravating her, getting her to roll her eyes or growl with frustration.

If his life had taught him anything it was if a person didn’t care enough to get mad, they didn’t care enough.

“I thought you said you knew where you were going.”

“I do,” and thankfully he found a landmark he recognized and tugged her hand towards the entrance to the S.T.A.R. Labs…lab.

Walking into the brightly lit area he was unsurprised to see the nerd herd huddled around the bank of computers, talking about something he was sure was important.

“I’m telling you, if you paint it purple I will never speak to again.”

Or not.

“You know, you guys should really think about changing your locks.”

Leonard almost laughed at quickly, and how clumsily, Barry turned around. His eyes wide at the sight of Captain Cold standing in the door with his arm around the shoulders of a pretty blonde who was grinning with her arms crossed.

“Snart?”

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but only just. “I’ve got a first name you know.”

“What are you doing here?” Leonard glanced Caitlin when she pulled out her teacher voice. “And who’s your friend?”

“Team Flash, I’d like to introduce you to the White Canary-“

“Sara!” Cisco pulled away from the group with a grin a mile wide, his arms spread. “The costume looks great!”

When Sara pulled away from Leonard to hug Cisco, he narrowed his eyes at the tech geek.

“You must be Cisco.”

“And you must be Laurel’s sister. I was little worried about the fit since I didn’t have you around to measure but she gave me your old outfit and that gave me something to work with.”

“Cisco,” Barry scolded. “It’s nice to meet you Sara but-“

“What the hell are we doing here?” she finished with a knowing look. “We’re here to help.”

“Seems the baddies don’t stop at Star City anymore.”

“You’re a baddie,” Cisco pointed out with a sharp look.

“Only on occasion.”

“He’s a work in progress,” Sara conceded and stepped towards Caitlin with her hand outstretched. “I’m Sara Lance.”

“Caitlin Snow,” she smiled back and after shaking Sara’s hand made a gesture between the two of them. “Are you two…?”

“On occasion,” Leonard answered and smiled at Sara’s over the shoulder glare.

“Like a couple?” Cisco asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he pointed at Leonard. “But you’re a baddie.”

“How’s my sister?” Leonard quipped back. “Kissed her lately?”

Cisco blushed but Sara sidled up to him. “You kissed his sister?”

“Technically she kissed me,” Cisco corrected nervously. “I just didn’t stop her.”

“What’s she like? I’m having drinks with her later and I’ve never been good with meeting the family.”

“Yeah, Cisco, what’s my sister like?”

“Oh? What’s that? An alarm going off somewhere else in the building. I better go check it out.”

Sara grabbed his arm to keep Cisco from fleeing and it was reassuring to Leonard he could still make the heroes sweat a little. “Be nice,” she warned Leonard. “We’re here to help, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“How exactly are you going to help?” Barry asked. He was dressed in his civvies which must mean they were still in their Scooby-Doo sleuthing phase and hadn’t yet gotten to the ‘chase the bad guy and put him in the tube’ stage yet.

“Well, I’ve got a cold gun and she kicks ass.”

“Also, we just went up against this guy back home. We would have gotten him but-“ Sara cut herself off and with one glance Leonard knew what she was thinking so he walked over to where she leaned against the desk.

He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder and gave it one comforting squeeze, meeting her eyes with a level look so she didn’t question what he was going to say. “Hey, that wasn’t your fault.”

“Felicity got hurt,” she reminded him as if he might have forgotten in the last 24 hours.

“Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Leonard answered Barry without looking away from Sara. “Felicity got hurt because that’s the life she chose. It wasn’t on you.”

“So that’s why you’re here,” Caitlin murmured.

Sara pressed her lips together before nodding. “I have unfinished business.”

“We,” Leonard corrected, squeezing her shoulder again. “If you’ve got unfinished business, then so do I. That’s how this works.”

Sara reached up to cover his hand with hers as Leonard face Team Flash. “Look, we’re here to finish this so we can either do it with you or without you. Either way, we’re doing it.”

Barry looked at Caitlin and Cisco before meeting Leonard’s gaze. “Give us a minute.”

“By all means, it’s not like you’ve got a meta running around your city getting to wreak havoc.”

With a roll of his eyes Barry pulled his friends over to the far side of the lab, keeping his eyes on Snart.

“Do you really trust him?” Caitlin hissed.

“He did help Rip,” Barry reminded her cautiously. “I mean, he helped save the world, that has to count for something?”

“He is literally walking around with a gun he stole from me,” Cisco pointed out. “I get he’s trying to be the cool anti-hero of the story, but I’m pretty sure Harry already has that role covered.”

“You just don’t like him because he doesn’t like you kissing Lisa,” Caitlin smirked and Cisco floundered for a response.

“She kissed me!”

“Uh-huh, okay.”

“Guys,” Barry warned. “It’s not like Snart is the only one we have to be worried about. Up until a few months ago Sara was dead, and had no soul.”

“Voldemort, man.”

Barry ignored Cisco, “If we make a conscious decision to trust Snart we have to do the same with her.”

“Laurel trusts Sara,” Cisco informs them seriously. “And so does Queen, right? That’s got to be enough for us.”

“And I trust Snart,” Barry decided. “He might not follow the same rules we do, but I honestly think he’s just trying to help.”

“If he’s in our city, he plays by our rules,” Caitlin insisted as she glanced at the couple talking quietly to each other by the computers. “But you’re right Barry, there’s something different about him now.”

With a nod Barry turned back to Sara and Snart, “All right. Tell us what you know.”

Snart grinned and absently touched the gun holstered on his leg. “Let the fun begin.”

####################

Barry had honestly never seen anything like it.

As Snart had explained their previous encounter with the meta they were after Sara had stepped in, clarified or argued a point, and Snart would continue on, rhythm uninterrupted.

It reminded Barry of the way Caitlin and Cisco could sometimes talk over and around each other, it suggested a kind of familiarity which baffled Barry. Partners, equals, and if the way he sometimes caught Snart looking at Sara and the way she smiled back, lovers?

How long had they’d been like this?

He wasn’t sure exactly how long they’d been gone. With time travel a person could leave, be gone for three months, and come back the same second they’d left with no one the wiser. So exactly how many days, how many missions, did it take for two people to become so synchronized it seemed as if they shared a head.

Or maybe a heart.

When they decided to head out Barry offered to carry Sara to the city block where they had tracked the meta but Sara had declined the offer.

“She’s my ride,” Leonard had informed Barry with a grin and when they stepped outside he understood what the villain-turned-hero had meant.

Sara swung her legs over a mean looking motorcycle and as soon as she was settled, engine roaring, Leonard sidled up behind her and tapped Sara’s leg once and without a single word between them, they were off.

Barry switched his com frequency, which Sara and Leonard each were connected to, to the one reserved for just Caitlin and Cisco.

“Am I the only one confused by this?”

“Yes,” both Caitlin and Cisco answered in his ear.

“They’re cute,” Caitlin insisted. “Terrifying, and dangerous but you can tell they care about each other. Did you see when Sara leaned against the desk and he Snart leaned against it too so they were touching?”

“Yeah, I’m just good with anything distracting Snart from killing me.”

Barry snorted and ran towards the meta who was trying to rob a bank in the center of the city, and got there just a moment before Sara and Snart did.

“Like we planned?” Barry asked as they circled the building to the exit they thought the meta was going to use.

“Like we planned,” Sara agreed, pulling her staff out a holster on the side of her leg as Snart took out his gun. “Don’t be a hero.”

Snart grinned, like it was an inside joke. “You too.”

Within a few seconds the meta and the people he temporarily had control over came out of the bank and the instant they realized they weren’t home free they began to attack. “Remember, knock them out, don’t hurt them! They don’t know what they’re doing.”

Snart glared at him but looked to Sara with a sharp look which surprised Barry. Why was the villain worried the hero wouldn’t follow the rules?

“Sara?”

“Yeah, I’m under control.” She took a deep breath as she swung her staff and caught a civilian at the knees so they hit the ground. “I’ve got this.”

Okay, Barry was totally calling Felicity after all of this and finding out exactly what the hell was going on.

Barry kept an eye out for the meta controlling the people, but in the meantime he grabbed the people he could and either picked them up and moved them down a few blocks or tied them to the metal fence nearby.

Snart and Sara fought the heavy weights, and it didn’t escape Barry’s notice they moved like they’d done this before, a kind of synchronized dance in the way moved around each other and with each other without ever saying more than a word or two.

Sara would shove a guy back with her foot, sending him skidding on a sheet of ice which hadn’t been there a moment ago.

Again, Barry couldn’t help but wonder how long they’d been gone together, how many sequence of hours added up to a day or a week or a month. How long had they fought side by side to create a kind of fluidity he couldn’t help but envy?

“Sara! Down!”

Barry’s head snapped at the scream, a warning mixed with desperation and he saw that without hesitation Sara had dropped to the ground at Snart’s shout. The cold gun blasted a ray of ice through the space she had occupied only a second ago, taking out an off guard cop with a gun in his hand. Sara had tossed her hair out of her face and grinned at Snart.

“Thanks.”

“Anytime,” he’d assured her but then Barry saw Snart’s feature narrow in a question. “Sara?”

Barry looked back at the blonde and saw there was something different about her features now.

The civilians they had been fighting had pieces of a green substance on their skin which they already knew was what the meta used to control his victims. Sometimes it was their hand, or cheek, on a few it was on their leg but they knew after just a few seconds of contact the victim was no longer under their own control.

And there on Sara’s back, just to the left of the white leather, was the same green substance.

“Snart, her shoulder.”

He stepped forward as if he fully intended to—Barry, didn’t know what Snart had intended so he grabbed the other man’s arm. “Snart, no.”

“I’m not leaving her.”

It could have just been a simple statement, something Barry could have said, something Oliver more than likely has repeated more than once, but there was something dark about the way the words came out of Snart’s mouth.

The plan had been to leave the civilians alone, to take the meta alive and back to STAR labs where he’d be locked up but Barry knew that was no longer an option.

They’d touched Sara, and Barry instinctively knew there was now no line Snart wouldn’t cross.

So, Barry decided, they’d have to save Sara before Snart crossed it.


	5. How Far Snart's Willing to Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snart has always understood how far he's willing to go when it comes to Sara, but when it comes time for theory to become fact, Snart finds he's okay with the result.  
> Barry, not so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nicknames in the next chapter, and probably some smut after that. hopefully i won't wait months and months before updating again!!

“We’re not killing anyone.”

“Speak for yourself,” Snart growled as he shook off Barry’s arm. “You want to save the civilians, get them out of here.”

Snart watched as Barry seemed to give the warning serious consideration before he started grabbing people and running off.

While the hero was off trying to save the innocents, Snart aimed his cold gun at the meta walking towards him. He was tall, skinny, and there was something about him which sent warning bells in Snart’s head.

He’d worked with more than one baddie, more than one villain, and he knew the ones who were greedy versus the ones who were evil and this guy with dead eyes and a sharp grin was the kind of person who did terrible things for the fun of it.

“You’re going to let her go.”

The meta chuckled, and the sound gave Snart the willies. “I’m not going to do any such thing. You’ve ruined my fun, Captain Cold.”

Snart felt his eyes narrow at the use of his moniker, and out of habit he glanced over at Sara and saw she was standing still, feet apart and staff in hand like she was ready to attack at any moment.

An attack dog, Snart thought with disgust, and knew Sara was going to be pissed beyond on anything at the degradation.

“You seem to be more prepared for this meeting than I am,” he drawled, his fingers itching against the trigger.

“Where are my manners? You can call me Brainwash.”

“Charming.”

“I have to say I’m surprised to see you here trying to stop me.” Brainwash walked towards Sara and touched her bare shoulder. “But then I see her and I wonder if she’s not the reason you’re trying to pretend to be good.”

“The love of a good woman, yada yada,” Snart waved his free hand. “Either way, I was never a fan of involving civilians because it just brought on too much heat from the boys in blue.”

Boys who should be here by now, Snart thought and wondered if something was keeping them from responding to the bank robbery.

“Needs of necessity,” Brainwash explained. “I find it’s easier to have a little help.”

Sara’s stance shifted and Snart swore because he knew what her attacks looked like, had sparred with her more than once and knew what they felt like that.

“You honestly don’t know what you’re doing,” Snart told Brainwash but kept his eyes on Sara and holstered his gun because he would need both arms free to defend himself. “She’ll kill you.”

“She’s under my control,” Brainwash hissed. “She won’t touch me.”

Snart snorted and watched as Sara barreled towards him. “You have no idea what you’re dealing with pal.”

With that, Snart couldn’t risk any more quips because he would need every nerve focused on the White Canary who was coming at him with bo extended.

Thankfully, their sparring matches gave him some idea of her attacks and he was able to move out of her range on a few of them but she hit him solidly with her right hook which sent Snart reeling to the ground.

“Fuck,” he spit out blood.

“You’re not even going to try and talk her out of it,” Brainwash mused from a few feet away. “So many people try, you know. They try to reach their loved ones as if the strength of a chemical change in the brain is enough to pull them back.”

Snart pushed himself to his feet as Sara caught her breath, readying for her next round of attacks. “I’m not nearly stupid enough to think my personality is strong enough to overshadow hers and that’s what you’ve done wrong Brainwash.”

Brainwash stepped forward, which Snart had hoped he would do, and the movement caught Sara’s attention. “What are-“ his words were cut off by the whip of Sara’s staff against his jaw.

“Stop!” Brainwash yelled but Sara swung her bo in an arc and knocked the robber off his feet. “I said stop!”

Snart chuckled from the other side of Sara. “You can’t reach her,” he informed the man on the ground. “You’ve tried to leash what can’t be controlled and that was your first mistake.”

“My first,” Brainwash repeated as he tried to come to his feet but Sara stopped him, pressing her bo against his sternum.

“The second was not killing me when you had the chance.”

Snart pulled his gun out of his holster and fired the gun at Brainwash’s arm and ignoring Sara’s snarl walked up to the man and stepped on the iced over limb.

Seeing as he was kind of a good guy, he shouldn’t have gotten so much pleasure from the sound, but what could he say? Rehabilitation didn’t happen overnight.

“Release her.”

Closing his eyes, Brainwash seemed to be focusing all his attention and Sara released him and turned back on Snart.

Snart’s finger moved against a switch near the barrel of the gun. “Babe, if you can hear me right now, you should know I’m a little sorry about this.”

Sara’s gaze, foreign to him with its blank expression, blood lust evident in her eyes, faltered for a second in confusion and Snart used that moment to raise his gun and fire.

He hadn’t used the full power of the gun, more force than cold, it merely sent her flying back against the wall of the bank.

When he watched her fall to the ground, unconscious, he turned back to Brainwash.

“You thought she was a hero, and that because she was I’d be too.” Snart moved the switched again, all cold and little force and aimed it at the man’s head. “But she’s an assassin, and sometimes killing is all she can think about so right now I think she wants me to do this. I know I do.”

“Snart!”

He hadn’t heard the speedster show back up, which was no surprise, but Snart found it easy to ignore Barry’s calls to stop and pulled the trigger. The man's face when white, covered in ice, a frozen tableau caught mid scream even though he'd never made a sound.

“Stepping on his face would be pointless, because he’s definitely dead, but I feel like there’s a certain amount of satisfaction to be gained from it.”

“Snart, stop.”

Holstering his gun, Snart moved to Sara and checked the pulse at her neck and was relieved to find it strong. “You going to help me get her back to the lab, or are you going to make me do it myself?”

Barry hesitated for only half of a second before taking Sara’s limp body in his arms. “You didn’t have to do that, Snart. We could have stopped him, put him in lockdown.”

Leonard walked towards the motorcycle and straddled it, the sound angry and matching his mood. “Yeah, maybe you could have kept him contained for a day, maybe a month, but he’s not the kind of guy to just accept that. He’d get out, he’d be angry, and he’d do a hell of a lot more harm than just robbing banks.”

“How do you know that?”

Leonard gunned the engine, kicked up the stand. “Cause for a while I could have been him. I’ll meet you back at the lab, make sure the doctor lady looks her over.”

There was a streak of red and white which flew past him and once they were gone Leonard took a moment to breathe, because he knew how that could have gone.

Sara would have killed anyone in her path because by taking away her main brain function Brainwash had essentially released the blood lust Sara had fought so hard to contain and control. She’d have killed Brainwash, killed Snart, and gone on killing.

He’d have lost her.

“Leonard?" A voice sounded in his ear. "It’s Caitlin. I’ve got Sara, and we’re taking care of her. We’ll run a couple of tests but we think she’s going to be fine.”

Snart let the breath he’d been holding leave his lungs. “Thanks, Doc. I’ll be there soon.”


End file.
